I have to wonder what Bollywood actors like Amrish Puri thought of the script?
He seemed to be having a jolly good time giving people heartaches.
Bingowings said:
It would have been much more plausible if the Thuggee cult was a cover for some German occult mind control experiments (George had tired a bit of Nazis).
Thuggees on the whole were Hindus and were Vegetarians who revered snakes, monkeys etc so having the party munching on them should be a sign that not only is it not a normal Palace banquet but even the Thuggees are acting against type.
The omitted dialogue you mention Anchorhead is sorely missed here, as is the subplot about Willie trying to warn Blumburtt.
Kali is a revered Goddess not a female Satan and the heart ripping is more Aztec than Indian (if it was portrayed as an illusion it could have worked but George wanted real black magic, I think he was digging in the wrong place there).
As a plot I think it worked better in the proto-Potter film, The Pyramid Of Fear (if only that had been an Indiana plot device instead of a Sherlock one).
In that story the cultists aren't Egyptians on the whole but Europeans dressing up as Egyptians and using mind altering drugs to brainwash people.
That could have fitted into the Indiana Jones time frame very easily as there were a lot of occult based secret societies doing just that (but hopefully not killing young ladies).
Ironically for this conversation it was one of the first films to use CGI and the stained glass knight scene still holds up well.
You're referring to Young Sherlock Holmes? I don't think too many people here know the alternate title here.
Kali and the Thuggee cult figure prominently in some old movie I saw on TCM a while back. The title escapes me at the moment...
EDIT: It was "Gunga Din" from 1939.
Bingowings said:
SilverWook said:
The banquet scene still freaks me out more than anything else.
You'd think they would have a stand next to the Indy ride at Disneyland selling chilled monkey brains!
This is another aspect of the film I find repulsive (in the wrong way).
India has possibly the best cuisine on the planet and yet they have a running gag about how not only is the food of the evil palace court insanely disgusting but the poor villagers too.
There was the potential for a very clever gag (no pun intended) there.
Willie could turn her nose up at the villager's food but actually find it delicious and she could then sit down to a delicious looking banquet which has been drugged (in readiness for her sacrifice) and start to see snakes coming out cakes and eyeballs in the soup which weren't really there.
Nobody notices because they just think she is an hysterical American, she is trying to pretend not to care because of her earlier embarrassment in the village but it sets up that something odd is happening to the people at the palace.
It would turn a rather racist joke into a Lynchian nightmare.
People in India would be equally disgusted if Indy ordered a burger though. ;)
I did read somewhere all those dishes were not made up. Yum!
I've been rewatching the prequels, and what doesn't work for me about digital Yoda is that he looks like a moving oil painting most of the time. I don't know how else to describe it.
One of the trade federation aliens in the conference room in Episode II also looks this way.
All the background Wookiees tend to stick out as CGI when you've seen that shot in Episode III a few times.
The banquet scene still freaks me out more than anything else.
You'd think they would have a stand next to the Indy ride at Disneyland selling chilled monkey brains!
So, do we have the South Park guys to thank for making him see the light?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFxuuByoyZE
The Lucas must awaken? ;)
Steven is really the only one that hangs out with George once in a while, and I have my doubts Lucas has even read what his other contemporaries have said on the subject.
The clip looks pretty darn good! I'm amazed you can filter out the "rolling bars" the 8210 has that are all too visible on modern displays.
IIRC, there are only two altered shots in the DC where the white hair thing plagues the LD. Is it possible to paint it out where possible using the unaltered shots from the DVD? Then use the heavy digital guns on the remaining shots?
I kind of doubt it. The 4% speedup PAL causes would have made synchronizing the soundtrack to the official DVD video problematic for the youtube clips.
Most of the Asian bootlegs I've encountered seem to be NTSC though.
Bingowings said:
DuracellEnergizer said:
Bingowings said:
In Temple Of Doom the whole last act is ruined by terrible special effects and none of them are CGI
Just for clarification, you're talking about Mola Ram's death scene, right?
That is a dire sequence but going back a bit the shot of our heroes clinging to the mine shaft cliff entrance as the oversized water shoots out looks like something from which would have embarrassed the makers of the film serials it's meant to be emulating.
Water always has been difficult to scale down though. Even the guys doing the cliffhanger serials had the same problems.
msycamore said:
Thanks for posting, interesting that they mention that the opening titles were in the wrong color.
I'm currently working on combining all the best parts of your LD-captures, that weird artifacts on the end titles in the 8210-transfer also appear on all computer-screens, so I will replace them with another capture as well.
I'll post a few video samples in a while so that you'll know what to expect from this.
SilverWook, could you do me a favor and check how the color appears on the end titles on your Betamax tape? The DC titles are yellow, the LD's are white, I'm curious.
It's impossible to know, as the idiot who did the video transfer panned the frame all the way over to THX standing in the sunset, chopping the credits off completely.
Based on the prequel documentaries, Lucas seems to delegate a lot of work and then gives his input sitting in front of a monitor. He also might have been too busy with Episode III to be shooting new bits for THX.
This is about the only making of article I've been able to find.
http://www.awn.com/articles/people/back-future-ithx-1138i/page/1%2C1
I'd also like to think he wouldn't personally make a silly mistake like the Robert Duvall body double having his hands in the wrong positions on the monitor added to the "report violation" scene! ;)
Hey Resonator, there are SC LD's of ESB and ROTJ on ebay right now if you're still looking for these.
That so looks like a Heavy Metal cover. :)
The text seems fine to me. I wasn't aware Lucas personally shot new footage, but you know more about THX than I do.
Was the final '96 VHS release the letterboxed PAL video?
I've had my suspicions ever since George lost his beard during the Captain Eo period. ;)
Is there a good spot to aim a video projector out a hotel window onto the side of a building? A guerilla screening of Puggo Grande is what's needed! ;)
Wasn't Clash a "rush job" though, done only in a few months to meet the release date?
The only 3D conversion I've seen was The Nightmare Before Christmas, and that seemed really well done.
I have no idea. Unless someone can identify the markings on the leaders or something.
It may be two prints combined, as there is the late 70's WB television logo at the end. It makes no sense, as the nudity and sex scenes would have been censored for broadcast here. The longer SEN scene only adds to the mystery.
Lars' Moisture Farm Love Igloo? Do tell!
Thanks for posting the correct link, bkev. I was clearly not wide awake yet. ;)
Harmy, the Laserdisc captures went out a while back, and a preservation is being worked on.
People Vs. George Lucas blog post about THX. Thanks to Tobar for the head's up!
http://www.peoplevsgeorge.com/2011/05/the-oh-so-awaited-star-wars-blu-ray-edition/
Tobar said:
PvGL blog post (the comment there saddens me)
There's also a more recent post about the changes to THX-1138.
Thanks for the link. Posting that to the THX preservation thread. :)
Everybody is a fan of something. That does not justify acting like a schoolyard bully on the internet, or require taking crap from those who do.
The preservation of film history doesn't mean squat to such people.
How would they like it if the SE's were on the other end of the gaffi stick?
Does "growing up" with the special editions means this fellow prefers the 97's? We all know those won't be on the new set! ;)
The PBS tv special about Star Wars in Concert confirmed CGI Yoda in TPM.
Those attending the upcoming dates at the Hollywood Bowl will probably see some of the new shots.